Hello Blues Fans!
Happy November! I’ll be honest I’m not looking forward to this month, at all. First it’s frickin COLD here in Flagstaff, yesterday our high was 33 and the wind was blowing. It might have looked sunny outside, but it was so cold! My mom would have been 61 this month, and this will be my first Thanksgiving without her. I’m struggling this month for sure, and I’ve got great family and friends supporting me, not to mention all of you who send me well wishes. I recently did a podcast with one of our blues fans, and she mentioned how much she loves these newsletters because I am so honest, so I figured I can’t stop now.
Now that I have wiped my tears, lets talk Blues! I have almost all the bands for 2020 signed. My goal is to complete the rest by the end of this month. This is so hard! There are so many incredible blues bands but we only have so many slots to fill. I swear if I had a week long blues festival and all the money in the world I don’t think I’d have this issue, LOL. I do think everyone will be happy with our lineup! I’ve listened to who you want back and I’ve brought in some new names that you might not have heard of. We will release the full lineup on February 1st!
I’m also working with my Aunt to help me with the PR of the event, as well as the Flagstaff CVB secured a partnership with Channel 12 in Phoenix, so keep your ears open for details on that partnership. Our sponsorship packages are finally done!!! So now, the fun (joking, I hate selling) of selling sponsorships begins! I want to secure $20,000 by the end of this month. Fingers crossed I get there. You can help me, send me business contacts that you think would like to support our festival, or business contacts that need to be front of our demographics (that’s you), or a business who believes in our philanthropic goal of music education in schools.
I also really need to get out to the driving range and measure! I want to change up the layout a little – move the big merchandise tent to one of the other sides, so all that prime real estate is open for YOU! And then I need to figure out how many parking spaces we have available! We cut it WAY too close this year, so I am working on a FREE shuttle to and from the event as well.
I’m also designing new side stage banners, I’m so excited! We’ve offered them to sponsors in the past but I think making the stage all Blues and Brews will be better. And it’s something we can re-use year after year.
WHEW! Alright folks, so looks like I have a lot to do this month, so I better get busy! I hope you all have a fabulous November and Thanksgiving with family and friends. Thank you again for all the love and support, it means the world to me.
